The government schools of Punjab had a particularly dismal performance, with 68% students failing. In Chandigarh, almost 72% students from government schools cleared the test. Of the 66,583 girl candidates in the CBSE’s Panchkula region, almost 87% passed, while of the 90,799 boys, a little more than 75% got through. The 1.57-lakh total candidates had an overall pass percentage of 80, down from 84 last year.

The pass percentage in independent private school is 88 for girls and 76 for boys.

Of the candidates appearing from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), alternative school for gifted children from rural areas, 97% girls and 92% boys cleared the examinations. From the government schools in the region, almost 70% students made it though, while only 44% of private candidate managed to pass.

CBSE regional officer RJ Khanderao said his office would look for reasons for the decline in pass percentage “but in spite of it, I am happy with the overall result”.